Craft Mandi - Not Just A Company... A Cause !

Craft Mandi - A free web based market inclusion initiative. craftmandi.com was created with a vision of aiding and promoting the interests millions of artists who are confined to practicing their art & craft from their homes, schools,institutes,SHG,JLG,CIG and rural regions. craftmandi.Com encouraged to pursue “art talents” such as painting, Textiles, sculpture,poetry,writings,singing, musical instruments and other classical arts. Their beginning was modest and aims for boundless quality in all their works. From this humble beginning, the organization has grown to provide active employment to over a 40 artists. Recognizing the hundreds of artisans are suffering due to lack of recognition and market access, they decided to provided a helping hand to the said artisans. The Craft Mandi has adopted over 20 rural artists from all over India and has launched this portal to market their products. In addition, the Mandi aims to organize and participate periodically in shows to ensure visibility and awareness among the art collectors and enthusiasts.

A Success Story of Lalitha Girijana Mahila Mandali, Vijayawada.

A.P.SCHEDULED TRIBES COOPERATIVE FINANCE CORPORATION LIMITED., HYDERABAD A Success Story of Lalitha Girijana Mahila Mandali, Vijayawada, a Mechanised Dress Making Unit District Information:- Name of the District : Krishna Name of the Scheme : NSTFDC Year : 1999-2000 Village : Governerpeda Mandal : Vijayawada Beneficiary Bio-data:- Name of the Beneficiary : Lalitha Girijana Mahila Mandali(7 member group) Name of the Unit : Mechanised Dress Making Unit Date of Sanctioning : 29-6-1999 Date of Grounding : 29-6-1999 Financial Pattern:- Total Unit Cost : Rs.4,50,000/- Subsidy : Rs. 42,000/- Margin Money(Loan) : Rs. 90,000/- Beneficiary Contribution : Rs. 43,000/- NSTFDC Term Loan : Rs.2,75,000/- Plus Working Capital : Rs.3,00,000/- During the year 1999-2000 a Mechanised Dress Making Unit was sanctioned to Lalitha Girijana Mahila Mandali, (7 members group) Vijayawada, Krishna District under NSTFDC scheme, with a total unit cost of Rs.4.50 lakhs of which subsidy Rs.42,000/-, Margin Money loan of Rs.90,000/- term loan of Rs.2.75 lakhs was sanctioned. The Beneficiary contribution being Rs.43,000/-. Further an amount of Rs.3.00 lakhs was also been sanctioned towards working Capital, which is also recoverable in 24 equal monthly instalments. The following are the members of Lalitha Girijana Mahila Mandali, Vijayawada:- 1. Ms Bhukya Balamma : President 2. Ms Bhanavath Mary : Vice-President 3. Ms Jarabala Rani : Secretary 4. Ms Kethavath Kumari : Treasurer 5. Ms Bhukya Padma : Member 6. Ms Bhanavath Sita : Member 7. Ms Bhanavath Koti : Member Prior to sanction of NSTFDC loan their story was really heart-burning. All the group members, used to pull their lives with great difficulty on an uncertain occupation as fruit/flower vendors, servants maids and their earnings were meagre i.e., approximately Rs.25/- per day for 15 days and the rest of the days they are job-less and used to live at semi-starvation level and they were actually crawling below poverty line. Their husbands were either cleaners or drivers with a small earnings of Rs.35/- per day whenever on job which is neither regular nor sure. Such that their lives were not only horrible but were also miserable. Now, after grounding the mechanised dress making unit their life style was totally changed, their monthly income has been enhanced and is approximately Rs.3000/- per month after meeting all their expenses including loan installments. The present income is regular and certain, which has actually influenced on their social status too. Their children are studying in convents, and getting good education. Further these members with their sheer hardwork have influenced their husbands, who are now working as regular drivers with an earning of Rs.100/- per day after meeting their expenses and now support their families, in domestic need. Thus the Mahila Mandali members now feel very proud of the NSTFDC scheme, as it has enabled them to live their own life style with due respect in the society with further zeal to meet any challenge. Source - http://www.aptribes.gov.in/html/tricor-success-stories4.htm

NABARD SHPI Programme

Location- Nawalgargh, Jhunjhunu, Participating agencies are -DDM Office, NABARD, RGB, MANSHA, ICDS,MNRMMGGFC Trust, SHGs & NGOs

Self Help Groups (SHGs) - Wings of Women Welfare

Special features of SHG. SHG is an organisation with fundamental principles like democratic approach and common decision-making, transparency, self-helping, repayment of loans and group development. The credibility of the group is dependent on these principles. Not only economical progress but also an ‘entire development’ is the aim and mutual trust among the members is the credo of SHG.

Falling in Love … with Microfinance

Tânia Sousa works in the Microcredit unit within the Portuguese banking firm Millennium BCP, where she is responsible for marketing. A Portuguese native with more than 10 years of experience in the financial-services industry, Tânia studied economics, and has an advanced degree in marketing. She joined Bankers without Borders®, Grameen Foundation’s skills-based volunteer initiative, in February 2012 and recently completed her first field project in Varanasi, India, with Grameen Foundation’s Microsavings team. Tânia, who currently lives and works in Lisbon, hopes to continue volunteering with Bankers without Borders. When I was a little girl and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said that I would like to be a medical doctor. I didn’t imagine myself in a traditional hospital or office. I always imagined myself in a distant country, helping the kids that I saw on TV who were living in extremely poor conditions, with no food, no healthcare and no opportunity to just be … well, kids. Life carried me away from medicine — my soul wasn’t really there — and I eventually studied economics, later graduating with a master’s degree in marketing. After graduation, I started working in a small investment bank called Activobank, which is owned by the largest private Portuguese bank, Millennium BCP. I remained at ActivoBank for 11 years, until March 2011. Then something amazing happened: I was invited to lead the Marketing department at Microcredit Millennium BCP. I didn’t know much about microfinance, so the challenge was huge. I immediately started to do a lot of research and, to my surprise, I fell hopelessly in love with microfinance. Last November, I was lucky enough to attend the 2011 Global Microfinance Summit in Valladolid, Spain, where I learned about Bankers without Borders® (BwB). I had no idea that such a program existed, and became excited with the idea that maybe my skills could be useful in fighting global poverty. When I returned back home to Portugal, the first thing I did was visit the BwB website to browse open volunteer opportunities. I applied for the Microsavings Communications Support project at Indian microfinance institution CASHPOR and, in time, was informed that I had been selected to participate on the project. To complete my project, I traveled to Varanasi, India, for a week and had the most incredible experience of my life. I interviewed women microfinance clients from small, remote villages around Varanasi to evaluate the impact that Grameen Foundation’s Microsavings Initiative at CASHPOR has had on their life. After that, I chose five women to participate in a small film about the microsavings program, with the purpose of showing the world the important role that microfinance and microsavings play in the fight against poverty. It wasn’t an easy job. In fact, it was a tough challenge. Seeing first-hand the conditions that the microfinance clients live in had a strong impact on me. It may sound like a cliché, but it really made me grateful for all that I have in my life, and it made me more aware of the responsibility that we all have in giving fair and equal opportunities to those who are less fortunate than us. Despite the difficulties, I was happy to have the opportunity to devote my time and skills to help less fortunate people and make a small difference. I hope to have more opportunities to work as a volunteer for BwB, and will continue to give my support to the incredible work that is being done to serve the poor. Nothing is impossible — we just have to keep trying!

SHG become a Cradle-to-Grave support system for poor women.

SHGs serving women not only in early stage but also become a staff for old age

SOS Global (Save Our Sisters) is a global initiative by MANSHA to protect a woman's right of birth.

SHG Producers Network in Fair-trades – The new Perspectives

What Woman Wants - Think Beyond Finance !

Urban & Rural Development Labs (MANSHA ULABS & RUDLABS) working hard for new technology developments. With this we are busy in dissemination of technologies through our technology transfer centers like- Labor friendly tools, SCORE etc.

Man- A second Sex for SHG Movement.

This is today’s need to strengthen Interest groups of Men like SHGs, Joint Liability groups, Farmers Clubs

Manish Kumar Meena Founder of SHG Portal & Craft Mandi Won Wagon R Young Turk Title

Mumbai, Aug 6 (IBNS) Bookmark and Share Maruti Suzuki India Limited, India’s largest carmaker, announced the winner of its very challenging WagonR Think Big Challenge Season3-Young Turks category. Maneesh Kumar Meena from University of Rajsthan, Jaipur won the coveted title with his big idea of starting “Craft Mandi”, an online as well as physical store that sells handicrafts to external markets after sourcing them from local craftsmen. The other finalists showcased ideas such as “Electronic Writing Pad”-a compact, battery driven and cheap mode of writing and “Dadi’s Veggie Mart”- business of selling vegetables in different areas in a smarter way. The winner was awarded a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh. The Young Turks category in the Think Big Challenge this year provided young students a platform to learn and see these ideas transform into feasible businesses. The Category received a whopping 5000 registrations from college students from 19 cities across India. 160 unique business ideas were registered. 4 semifinalists were chosen from various cities to compete in the North, West, East and South Zonal rounds. The finalists from each of these zones were mentored by Industry experts. The panel that comprised of Sameer Narula, founder of August Capital Partner’s, Abhik Ghosh, Co-founder of AG Knowledge Tech and Shalil Gupta, the Consulting and Insights Director for IDC India judged the contestants. (IBNS) http://www.newkerala.com/news/newsplus/worldnews-62652.html#.UCOfuqA3zFw

Maneesh Kumar Meena, Founder of SHG Portal- Awarded by the prestigious Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award

Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award is given every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of Late Smt. Indira Gandhi on 19 November. This award is instituted by All India National Unity Conference and is awarded to individuals for promoting national unity, integration and brotherhood 2011 Awards Awardees • Mr. Manish Kumar meena ,Young Indian Social Worker, Founder president & CEO, Mansha Global NGO, (www.manshaglobal.com, www.shgportal.com)for his outstanding works for Rural & Tribal Community welfare. The awards were presented by Honourable Shri Dr Bhishma Narain Singh, Former Governor of 7 states and Shri Dr G.V.G.Krishnamurthy, Former Chief Election Commissioner. The award ceremony was held on Nov 17, 2011 at the India International Centre Auditrioum, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi

NABARD Launched India's second SHG Portal (Limited User) for its own SHPI

SHGs- promoting an informed and inclusive nation Micro Credit Innovations Department (MCID)'s launching of its Pilot phase of the SHG (Self Help Group) Bank Linkage programme in February 1992 could be considered as a landmark development in banking with the poor.The strategy involvs forming small, cohesive and participative groups of the poor, encouraging them to pool their thrift regularly and using the pooled thrift to make small interest bearing loans to members, and in the process learning the nuances of financial discipline.